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35 CHILLI peppers feature on the recipe list of a number of recipes from starters to main courses and desserts. However choosing the appropriate chilli pepper is not always easy, due to the vari- ation in pungency in different varieties. Peppers are commonly broken down into three groupings – bell peppers, sweet peppers and hot peppers with most popular vari- eties falling into one of these cat- egories or a cross between them. The substances that give chilli peppers their intensity are cap- saicin and several other related chemicals. Reacting with pain receptors in the mouth, signals are sent to the brain which in turn increase the heart rate, pro- duce perspiration and release endorphins. The heat of chilli peppers was historically measured in Scoville heat units, which is a measure of how much a chilli extract must be diluted in sugar syrup before its heat becomes undetectable to a panel of tasters. Modern com- monplace methods for quantita- tive analysis uses high-perfor- mance liquid chromatography to directly measure the capsia- cinoid content of a chilli pepper variety. Chilli peppers can be used fresh, dried or pickled for culi- nary purposes. Dried chillies can also be ground into powder. The chilli pepper is an important in- gredient in dishes all over the world from the Far East to the Western World. The leaves of the chilli plant are mildly bitter but nowhere near as hot as the fruits that come on the same plant. They are used in Filipino cuisine where they are cooked as "greens". They are also used in Korean and Japanese dishes. Psychologists believe that eat- ing chilli is an example of con- tained risk whereby extreme sensations, like pain, can be en- joyed because individuals know that the sensation will not ac- tually cause bodily harm. The same theories are put forward for roller coaster riding where riders enjoy the sensation of fear as they know they are not going to fall out. Eating chilli is viewed as a war- rior's ritual in Japan because its spicyness is said to mentally block fear. By forcing themselves to eat chillies, warriors' mental state is set to get stronger leav- ing them feeling invincible when stepping out onto the battlefield. Archaeological evidence in Ec- uador suggests chillies have been domestically cultivated for more than 6000 years and were one of the first cultivated crops in Cen- tral and South America. Christopher Columbus first encountered the chilli pepper in the Caribbean and brought them to Europe where they were mainly grown as botanical curi- osities in the gardens of Span- ish and Portuguese monasteries. Monks eventually began to ex- periment with their culinary po- tential and discovered that their pungency offered a substitute for black peppercorns which at the time were so costly they were used as a legal currency in some countries. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 2017 Fine food of the week Food Ingredients • 1 ¾ cups heavy cream • 1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder or special dark cocoa • ¾ cup sugar • ½ cup bittersweet or semi- sweet chocolate chips • 1 ¾ cups milk • 1 tsp vanilla extract • ¼ tsp fine sea salt • 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon • 2 - 3 tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste Method 1. Whisk together the cream, cocoa and sugar in a me- dium saucepan. 2. Warm the mixture over medium-high heat, whisk- ing constantly until it comes to a full rolling boil (the mixture will foam up). 3. Remove from the heat be- fore it overflows and imme- diately add the chocolate. 4. Whisk until the chocolate has completely melted. 5. Stir in the milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and chilli pow- der. 6. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until thor- oughly chilled. 7. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Recipe of the week Chocolate chilli ice cream Spice up your meals with red hot chilli peppers